What words come to mind when you hear the word, "Alaska?"
Freezing. Beautiful. Polar Bears. Iditarod. Pink Salmon. Cold.
Instead, what about…?
Melting pot of cultures. Poor. Needy. Hungry. Aching for the love of Christ.
While Alaska might seem far away to most, it is still apart of the United States- a place where many people consider to be the land of the abundant and plenty. So why is it that so many Anchorage residents are struggling to feed their families? Take care of the sick and elderly? And provide basic needs such as formula and diapers??
Love Inc is an organization that is trying to fill in these gaps for the local community in Anchorage, Alaska. Not only are they building a network for churches to work together and partner with other organizations in order to meet felt needs, but beyond that, Love Inc cares about the heart and spiritual health of each person they encounter. Our teams will have the honor and priviledge to work with Love Inc to complete simple service projects like painting homes, yard work, organizing food bank intake, and being a light to a community begging for hope.
Sophie is a woman who needed some help and sought out Love Inc. Where she might have thought she only needed assitance in some pull ups, Love Inc was able to provide so much more than that through helpful volunteers. YOU have the opportunity to be one of those helpful volunteers and share the love of Christ to a real community, stuck in survival mode.
[Sophie had her hands full with three kids and a baby due any day. Juggling that much, it is the little things that matter the most, like the fact that she was out of Pull-Ups for her toddler. She called Love INC to see if they could help. A state agency had told her about Love INC. "I never heard of the organization," she explained. " I didn't even know you guys existed. The services you provided were beyond my needs." In fact, Sophie did have other needs she just hadn't mentioned. Love INC's intake process revealed several ways that our partner churches could help and bless Sophie and her children.
"I got a big surprise. They not only provided the Pull-Ups I requested, I got diaper bags, wipes, clothes for the baby….They provided a Pack 'N' Play crib and they provided cakes for my two boys." Two of Sophie's boys have birthdays in October. Our wonderful cake lady volunteer, Andrea, made a Cars birthday cake for her little guy turning three and a Spiderman cake for her just-turned-nine year old.
She was blessed by a woman from ChangePoint who brought her a basket of diapers and formula. Sophie didn't even get to greet her or find out her name as she popped by while she was feeding the baby and her older kids answered the door. Sophie had two other ladies visit her from Love INC and both prayed with Sophie. Sophie attends Faith Christian Community and knows the value of prayer. "My children look forward every weekend to going to church." They remind her to go and, when they can't make it, they ask that the family pray together since they missed services.
What a blessing it was for Love INC to receive a call for Pull-Ups and be able to provide so abundantly: a baby basics basket from ChangePoint; a clothing voucher for the family from New Hope on the Last Frontier; birthday cakes from Andrea, our cake baker; and Pack 'N' Play and other baby necessities from Alliance Bible Church. Everyone came together to make this a special month for Sophie and her family. "It just shows God can work wonders."]
Our God is alive and moving! He is ALWAYS working miracles. And the coolest part about it, is that He chooses to use US in order to implement these wonders. We get to be apart of the miracle of helping others. And what could be greater pleace to do it than Anchorage, Alaska?!
You can learn more about Love Inc on their website www.loveincanchorage.org
